Li Qinghuan

Chapter 17

Song Duan and Huo Ying, Shangshu of the Ministry of War, discussed for nearly two hours in the Panlong Hall, and when they came out, both of them looked solemn.

Song Duan breathed out a bad breath, calmed himself down, and prepared to go to his mother to find some solutions—the Empress Dowager He Zhiyu was the daughter of Zhen Guo General He Huaizhou, a family of generals, the current situation is not good to tell outsiders, but Queen Mother He is not an outsider, There should be some solutions to his current predicament.

He walked to the gate of the Compassionate Ning Palace, waved away all his followers, and entered the palace gate alone.

The servants of the Palace of Compassion and Ning saw Song Duan coming in and wanted to kneel down to salute, and informed the Queen Mother, but saw him raise his hand and made a silent gesture. At this time, the Queen Mother should be chanting in the Buddhist hall. He didn't want to disturb his mother. Just go to the side hall and wait.

There were no servants at the entrance of the hall, but there was someone whispering in the hall. It was the Queen Mother's voice. Song Duan felt a little strange, wasn't he chanting scriptures?Then why send people so far away?

Song Duan was about to go in to have a look, but he heard someone say: "Ah Li has grown up now, don't you think about it?" Hearing the voice, it was Mrs. Zhao, the Queen Mother's good friend.

"Considering what?"

"Oh, don't pretend to be confused by pretending to understand."

"Tuaner, he did a good job."

"What's good, you came from a general family background, can't you see what's going on in Da Wei now?"

"Who can't see it? It's just that I don't want to admit it, and I'm deceiving myself and others." Speaking of this, the Queen Mother's tone was a little sighing and a little sad.

"Okay, okay, let's not talk about this, national affairs, you and I are a woman, what's the use of empty talk. If you mention this kind of thing to the emperor, he will probably charge me with treason." Mrs. Zhao said He patted his chest, as if he had lingering fears.

The queen mother chuckled lightly and said, "Duan'er is not the kind of person who doesn't distinguish between black and white."

Mrs. Zhao said with a smile: "So what about Mingjun, after all, he is not your own. Although Ah Li is a bit stubborn, he is of the orthodox royal blood."

The queen mother lazily said: "Duan'er is the same."

Mrs. Zhao retorted: "Song Duan, the son of a court lady, is nothing more than an impulsive crime committed by the late emperor overnight. What kind of orthodoxy is it?"

Song Duan stopped outside the door. When he heard this, his heart was shocked and his hands trembled badly. He really didn't have the courage to listen any more. For the first time, he fled in disregard of the emperor's majesty.

The two people talking in the room didn't notice the strangeness outside the room at all, the queen mother said lightly: "Okay, don't talk about it anymore, it is up to the people to decide whether you are a wise king. During the past few years of Duan'er's reign, the people's lives have become better and better. The better, he is decisive in killing, this is brought from his bones, he has the appearance of the late emperor, what Duaner can do well, Ah Li may not do well, in my eyes, Duaner is my child."

Mrs. Zhao had nothing to refute: "You say yes."

Seeing her deflated, the queen mother said again: "Don't worry, now that the situation on the border has become tense, Duan'er will not sit idly by. A strong army is a matter of time. Thought, he has been influenced by these things since he was a child, and it is not so easy to turn around. No matter how bad it is, there is still the Red Wing Army. The harem does not interfere in politics. If he doesn’t come to ask me, I can’t mention it.”

Mrs. Zhao nodded: "Yes."

The queen mother supported her forehead with her hands, and frowned indistinctly.

Mrs. Zhao said worriedly: "Zhiyu, your body..."

Queen Mother: "It won't last for a few years."

Empress Dowager He was weak since she was a child, and General He had no children. She wanted this only daughter to take over her mantle and strengthen her body by the way, but Emperor Wanxi married He Zhiyu in order to check and balance the military power in the hands of General He. It is another kind of hostage.

She was originally a tiger girl of the general family, but she has been so delicate and weak for half her life. After giving birth to Song Li, her health has been deteriorating.

Mrs. Zhao sighed, and comforted: "Don't worry too much, you are still young, there is always a way. I will find some doctors outside the palace to show you."

The Empress Dowager shook her head: "My own body is counted by myself."

Mrs. Zhao was dumbfounded.

The queen mother smiled and said: "Don't worry, there is no problem in living another two or three years. I will at least wait until Ah Li gets married and starts a business."

Mrs. Zhao smiled: "Yes."

……

Song Duan fled and returned to the Panlong Palace, leaving all the guards and maids behind.

He sat slumped in the empty hall, and spent half a day forcing himself to accept the matter. If someone else said it, he might still doubt it, but when it came from Mrs. Zhao, he could only choose to accept it.

Song Duan stood in front of the dragon chair that symbolized supreme power, and for the first time dared not sit on it.

He felt like a stupid thief who stole a piece of land from someone else, naively thinking that it was his own, and worked hard on that piece of land that did not belong to him, while the owner of the land was watching in the dark, When the crops in that field are mature, the land will be taken back without hesitation, and the thief will be beaten to death with sticks.

Song Duan gradually slumped to the ground. He felt that all this was extremely absurd. The elder brother and younger brother he had called him for more than ten years were not his real brothers, and the mother he had called his mother for more than twenty years was not his real mother.

In Song Duan's hands, Great Wei was more prosperous and richer than previous generations.

The weakness of the army was accumulated by generations of Wei Wei, and it was not his fault alone. It was just that after the death of Emperor Wanxi, the Hu people were eager to move, and the problem of military strength became particularly serious in his generation.

Song Duan didn't feel that he had done anything wrong, but his birth determined that all he did was to make wedding clothes for others, and he refused to accept it and was unwilling.

……

In the autumn of the fourth year of Xuande, Emperor Xuande Song Duan issued dozens of decrees one after another on the grounds of harassing the border in the east and strengthening the army to defend the soil.

The decree issued by Song Duan completely took over the military power of the garrisons in various places, handed them all over to the imperial court, and held them firmly in his own hands.But after all, Song Duan didn't know how to manage soldiers, and he knew himself, so he appointed a Taiwei, and brought a military officer who had made no achievements in the court and only talked about soldiers on paper to this position. The person who had tripped up this humble military officer before.The whole court was full of turmoil, and it was impossible to guess the mind of the Ninth Five-Year Venerable, but it seemed that he was more peaceful and peaceful.

It is one thing to gather military power, but it is another thing to strengthen the army. Song Duan knew the importance of this matter, so he issued other decrees.

Thirty thousand imperial troops were dispatched to 54 counties of Kyushu to train troops and served as the highest officers of the garrisons of the prefectures and counties to strengthen the strength of the army.So far, both military training and local military power can be completely brought back to the central government.

?In the place where the forbidden army was dispatched, Yu Capital City undoubtedly lost the most elite force pillar, so before the imperial army was dispatched, there must be an absolutely powerful force to stabilize the foundation of Yudu.For this reason, Song Duan set up Jinyiwei, and without hesitation issued a decree to recruit talents: set up martial arts to recruit martial arts talents within the four realms.Once you enter Jinyiwei, you will be like a scholar enrolling in the imperial examination, doing things for the royal family, wearing brocade clothes, and sitting on an equal footing with the Imperial Army.

To some extent, this is equivalent to getting rid of the humble status of a martial arts practitioner. After all, although the forbidden army is also a martial arts practitioner, no one would think that the forbidden army is inferior to others.As soon as this decree came out, warriors who wanted to stand out flocked to him, desperately trying to get a place in Jinyiwei.

Song Duan's decrees and edicts were smashed on the six ministries, and the ministers of the ministries were almost too busy to touch the ground. Even the Ministry of War, which was too lazy to fly in the usual leisurely flies, was also busy. Huo Ying was in a hurry, and the recruitment of Jin Yiwei added a few wrinkles to his already anxious face, but this undoubtedly symbolized Among the six ministries, the Ministry of War will no longer be dispensable, so even though the Ministry of War is so busy that it does not touch the ground, Huo Ying always has a trace of joy on his face.

Stepping on the tail of August, the various ministries have finally arranged things in a messy manner. It can be said that the Ministry of War has been idle for a long time in the court. I thought it would be a delay, but I didn't expect to deal with things very efficiently. Things were arranged quickly and well.

At the beginning of September, the decrees issued by Song Duan were implemented one by one, and the recruitment of Jin Yiwei was almost over. The warriors who had been at the bottom of the ranks entered the establishment. ".

Song Duan sat in front of the case, flipping through the memorials on the table one by one, thoughtful.Although such an arrangement has actually received the power from the central government, the establishment of Jinyiwei will have a certain impact on the folk culture of light martial arts, and it is bound to shake the status of officials in the DPRK and China.

However, the Wei Dynasty has been emphasizing civility over military affairs for hundreds of years. The aristocratic families are basically civil servants, and their influence is intricate and deep. However, Song Duan himself has only been on the throne for a few years, and his foundation is not stable.If the civil servants are allowed to hold grudges, it will definitely affect his absolute dominance, and in serious cases, it will even shake the foundation of the country. Thinking about it this way, we have to think of a way to ensure the stability of the civil servants and their own status .

After a little thought, he drew up another decree, cast a tiger talisman, split one into two, and half was held by Prime Minister Qi Bosheng, and the co-existence with the imperial decree could make the troops and horses of the Yongzhou camp. The imperial decree and the tiger talisman are indispensable; According to Song Duan, Jinyiwei and the imperial army can be ordered to follow the current soldiers; the two pieces are combined into one, and the soldiers and horses can be mobilized at will within the four realms of the holder of the talisman, and only orders are obeyed.

Song Duan drew up the imperial decree and sent it to the Ministry of Industry, ordering the Ministry of Industry to design and cast the Tiger Talisman. He urged it to be unique and impeccable, and there must be no possibility of imitation.

The minister of the Ministry of Industry accepted the imperial edict calmly, but he felt troubled in his heart. The Ministry of Industry made weapons, and the most delicate things they made were the batch of light crossbows specially supplied to the border guards the year before last.But His Majesty has issued an imperial decree, no matter whether it can be done or not, the minister of the Ministry of Industry can only bite the bullet and agree first.

On the other side, Prime Minister Qi Bosheng also received Song Duan's order. This prime minister who had seen the world received the order as if nothing had happened, and said calmly: "Thank you, Lord Long. I will do my best to serve Your Majesty."

What Song Duan did was not what Qi Bosheng expected. Such a drastic reform like him will definitely have a good effect, but it is inevitable that the civil servants will be dissatisfied. To maintain the original balance, Song Duan must give the civil servants some benefits, while he It is the most direct beneficiary of that benefit.

Qi Baisheng came from the Qi family of the four major families in Yudu. The Qi family has been officials for generations, and their titles are not low. He is highly valued by Song Duan.

For a while, the Qi family was unrivaled in the limelight among the four major families, and he was the best choice to appease the nobles.If you choose the other three authors of the four major families to appease the target, I am afraid it will not have such a good effect. The Zhao family is a scholarly family, and they don't look down on these powers at all; the Li family is not as powerful as the Qi family, and the effect will not be too obvious; But the Feng family has gradually declined, and it can't make any waves. It can be regarded as making up the numbers among the four major families.Qi Bosheng, an old fox, has figured it out a long time ago, and the measures Song Duan took were all within his expectations.

Although Song Duan felt that these were child's tricks, Qi Bosheng naturally wouldn't mind having more power in his hands. ?